Chapter Twenty-Three

Lindsey

My body burned as though I'd been set ablaze. My head pounded like a snare drum. I tasted blood in my mouth. Woozy, I lifted my chin from my chest and tried to look around. Shrubbery and tree trunks met my gaze. A squirrel, its tail flicking, stared at me from a limb just above me. A Taser. I'd been Tasered again. Fuck.

I tried to make some sense out of the fog drifting through my hazy brain. I remembered turning my cell off. Too many texts and calls from clients kept me from working. I vaguely remembered shoving it into my back pocket, but I wasn't sure if I truly had or if I had tossed it onto my desk.

I went upstairs for a glass of tea. I stepped into the kitchen, my mind on the project. Stepping toward the fridge, I was hit. Terrible pain, then nothing until now.

"I've wrapped you up in about ten pounds of C-4."

Blinking, unsure where the voice came from, I looked around, bleary, dizzy.

Austin Rivers emerged from the bushes to my left, calm, his expression neutral. He wore a tight t-shirt and jeans with a light windbreaker, his hair brushed neatly. Had he not been the most evil son of a bitch on the planet, he might actually be attractive.

"You shift, you die." He leaned against a tree, his hands in his pockets. He nodded toward me.

I looked down.

I wore what appeared to be a fisherman's vest, but instead of lures, small packages of plastic squares filled the pockets. Wires ran from one package to another. Horror shivered through me. I sat on the ground and only then realized my hands were tied firmly behind me, locked behind a slender tree trunk.

"I rigged that especially for a dragon," he went on, conversational. "The instant you break those connections by shifting, they blow. You haven't the time to fully change before you're killed."

I curled my upper lip. "You fucker ."

Austin shrugged. "Look, if Brody gives me my money, we're good. I'll let you go. Since I'm leaving town to start over, I don't care if you live to talk to the cops. I'll let you live in peace, no hard feelings."

Defiance overruled my good sense. "Maybe I should shift and take you with me. Are you ready to die, Austin?"

He chuckled. "You won't. First, you want to live, Lindsey. Second, I even think you're going to, I'll shift. My dragon can sustain an explosion. Yours, not so much."

I shut my eyes and groaned. "Why are you doing this? For God's sake, Brody never took your dope. He didn't sell it. He can't bring you what he doesn't have." Opening them, I glared. "You're so stupid."

"He deceived you, Lindsey." Austin squatted to be on eye level with me. "He's lied to you. You don't know him. I do."

"You don't know jack shit ," I yelled, fighting the ropes that bound my wrists. "His jacket was stolen . It ended up in a thrift store . Anyone could have it. Brody couldn't have taken your dope. You're fucking wrong about everything."

Austin clicked his tongue. "I'd really hate to kill you, girl. You're tough, you're smart, you got some cojones. But if Brody doesn't show up with my money, I'll shoot into the C-4. There won't be enough left of you to find."

I sagged wearily against the tree. "I'm pregnant, Austin."

"So?"

"You'd murder me and an innocent child?"

He shrugged. "You should have kept your legs closed. Not my fault your fetus will die with you."

"That's cold, man."

"It's a cold world. You know that."

"I didn't kill you when I could have." I narrowed my eyes, staring into his. "You're alive because I let you live."

Austin grinned. "And I do thank you for that, Lindsey, I really do. Had you killed me, you wouldn't be where you are right now, would you?"

"Prick."

"Yeah, one has to be a prick to get by." He stood. "I don't want to kill you. I will let you go when I get what's mine. Brody, too. I hold no grudges." His lips thinned. "Though you killed Greg."

"And I'll kill you without a shred of guilty feelings. Brody will find me, asshole. And we'll both hunt your ass down, rip you to itty bitty dragon shreds."

"I'd like to see you try, honey, I really would." He offered a sardonic salute. "I really hope I can come back here to untie you."

Turning, Austin vanished into the undergrowth and was gone.

"Fuck," I screamed. "Fuck."

Screaming won't help. No more than screaming did when I lay tied to the bed. It never helped Bethany. Think, dammit, think. Untie the ropes, get this damn vest off of me. Calming myself, taking deep breaths to slow my racing heart, I worked the ropes that tied me to the tree. They were thick, with a hard knot that defied my fingers. My nails slipped over it without digging in. I failed to get a grip that might untie it.

Should I risk shifting? Risk that my split-second shift was faster than the explosives? Was Austin right about his bomb? I dared not try it. He's right. I want to live.

Frustration, and fear threatened to overwhelm me. In the west, over the treetops, the sun began to set. I didn't let myself worry about wild critters thinking I'd make a nice meal. Whatever roamed these woods would most likely shy away from the scent of a human.

Do I smell like a dragon, too?

Not caring if I ripped my freshly healed wrists open again, I struggled, fought to get free of the rope. Pain accompanied my efforts, but I continued, working to slide my hands free. Once I managed that, I could get this bomb off my body and fly away.

Full dark descended. The stars glowed overhead, making me crave to be up there, flying free, flying with my love. What was Brody doing at this very moment? Surely he knew by now that I'd been taken. Austin would inform him I was his hostage to get Brody's cooperation.

"Brody," I sobbed, giving in to tears. "You have to find me. I know you're looking for me. How can you know where I am? I don't even know where I am."

The trees were too thick for me to see the glow from the city. So I had no idea where it was. I thought I heard the hum of traffic on the highway, making me wonder if I was in the area where Greg had taken me. Unfortunately, farms and homes were scarce in some places once out of the city.

"Brody."

I shut my eyes, my wrists on fire, my body aching. There's no way he can find me. Austin will kill him, then me. A bullet to the bomb and I'm gone.

"Brody. I love you."

I let my mind fill with the memory of his face, his smile, his warm honey eyes. The sound of his laughter, his voice, how much he loved me. To have found my soul mate, my fated mate, only for us to be separated by death.

Aren't you giving up rather easily?

I didn't know where the voice or the thought came from, but I opened my eyes. Yes. Yes, I was giving up far too easily. There has to be a way Brody or the cops can find me. Search dogs? Not likely. Austin surely put me in a car to bring me here. A helicopter? Where'd they search?

My cell?

I jerked upright. "My cell? Shit, did I put it in my pocket? Fuck, why'd I shut it off in the first place? I can be tracked by my phone."

Wriggling my ass on the hard forest floor determined that my cell was indeed in my hip pocket. Austin hadn't searched me and taken it. Maybe he didn't think finding my cell was important.

So just how do I get my phone from my pocket when my hands are tied behind the tree? That's the question of the century.

Working slowly, concerned about setting off the bomb, I altered my position from sitting to kneeling. Okay. My butt and pockets are exposed. Now what? Stretching the rope as far as I could, I tried to reach around the trunk. There just wasn't enough give. Frustration tried again to claim my mind, but I forced it back. I needed clarity of mind, the ability to focus.

I relaxed, flexing my hands. Blood rushed back into them, making them tingle. My phone was in my right hip pocket. I'm right handed. Instead of fighting the rope, I twisted my upper body around the slender trunk. I stretched my hand toward my jeans and my pocket. Rewarded by the seam under my fingers, I groped for the phone inside it.

My shoulders screaming, sweat dripping down my face, I stuck my index finger inside and touched my cell.

I couldn't get two fingers inside when I needed two to grip it.

"Fuck!"